


just waiting for the world to end

by noahloveszombies



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Dysfunctional Family, End of the World, Family Dynamics, Family Fluff, Gen, Good Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Isolation, Magical Realism, Minecraft, NO philza minecraft hate in MY house!!!!!!!!!!, Older Sibling Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Protective Siblings, Protective Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Sleepy Bois Inc-centric, Three Life System, Twins Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, Winged Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Younger Sibling TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), by 10 minutes lawl, not-so-subtle parallels to the irl pandemic, technically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:35:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29991210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noahloveszombies/pseuds/noahloveszombies
Summary: "Okay," Phil breathes, trying to suppress the urge to panic, to quiet the alarm bells ringing in his head. "That's fine, sometimes the connections can get a bit iffy-" "No, I was there for like, ten minutes," Techno interrupts. "They weren't loadin'. Like there was nothin' there in the first place."Phil swings the door shut, and pulls his bucket hat from his head to run a hand through his hair. /This is fine,/he reminds himself, attempting to calm down, because acting irrationally will get him nowhere. /I can fix this. Everything will be fine./or; imagine how terrifying world corruption would be in realistic minecraft :)
Relationships: Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Kudos: 24





	just waiting for the world to end

It begins in the late morning, in the world Phil thought him and his sons could be safe inside. Key word,  _ thought.  _ Techno rides up to the house atop Carl, having just taken the horse for a ride to stretch his legs now that spring had emerged, and as Phil comes out of the door to greet him, he takes note of the grim expression on Techno's face.

"What's gone on now?" Phil asks, not feeling too worried in the moment- maybe a nearby village had been raided, or he'd had to fight off some ne'er-do-wells in the next town over. The lack of any significantly dangerous events had been Phil's sole reason for picking this world in the first place. It was quiet, and beyond what he'd already explored, sparse. Mobs didn't spawn too frequently. Anything terrible rarely happened, if at all.

The boar mask remains tucked under Techno's arm, as he replies, "I... I tried to go a little further out this time. See if there was anythin' out there."

Phil gestures for him to continue.

"The chunks wouldn't load."

"Okay," Phil breathes, trying to suppress the urge to panic, to quiet the alarm bells ringing in his head. "That's fine, sometimes the connections can get a bit iffy-" "No, I was there for like, ten minutes," Techno interrupts. "They weren't loadin'. Like there was nothin' there in the first place."

His wings fluff up before he can shove the instinct down, and Phil reminds himself to remain calm, because if he lets any one of his sons twig the fact that he's out of his depth here, let alone Techno, they'll all start freaking out. Irritatingly slowly, the feathers slowly even out. "We'll give it a day and then go back out. Maybe it's just having a funny few moments. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll sort itself out, Tech." Techno still looks skeptical, and the frown doesn't quite drop from his face, but the nickname provides some form of comfort as he fakes a tiny smile and bumps Phil's shoulder as he enters the house.

Phil swings the door shut, and pulls his bucket hat from his head to run a hand through his hair.  _ This is fine, _ he reminds himself, attempting to calm down, because acting irrationally will get him nowhere.  _ I can fix this. Everything will be fine. _

For the rest of the day, an uneasy haze settles over his heart that leaves it seemingly unable to beat quite right, and leaves a cavernous, empty feeling in his chest. He does not allow his routine to slip, and does the same things he does every day- make breakfast, watch over Tommy and Techno as they train, make lunch, listen to Will play his guitar, make dinner, and tuck the boys in when they're good and ready.

In the night, he pulls every book from the shelves and pours through the pages until his eyes begin to give out, until the words in front of him barely make sense and the oil lamp on the bedside table feels far too bright. He reads, and reads, until he eventually falls asleep.

* * *

"Dad."

Phil awakes with a jolt, wings stretching out, feathers riled. Techno is standing across from him, looking amused if not concerned, and Phil reminds himself that he is supposed to be a father.

"Sorry," he begins immediately, voice still low. He places his hat atop his head, after it had fallen off when he bolted upright, and stands. "You ready to go?"

Techno, Prime bless him, doesn't comment on the state of the room. Just nods wordlessly, and walks out in front of him.

Techno rides Carl, Phil flies a pace or two behind, and for a moment, the issue at hand is pushed out of his mind. A part of him more avian than human feels content with the situation, a constant stream of thought in the back of his mind,  _ flock, flock, flock, safe, protect, keep safe, flock, happy.  _ Once the horse begins to slow, Phil comes in to land, and Techno hops off with Carl's lead gripped in one hand, staring down at the drop-off in front of them. "It... I could've sworn it wasn't this close yesterday."

In a desperate bid to convince both of them everything is fine, Phil replies, "Maybe it just feels that way." They both know it's not true. They both know that they're completely in the dark here, up shit's creek without a paddle, and it's entirely possible that whatever is preventing the world from generating further could be spreading inland, toward the center of the map, toward  _ home.  _ But Phil would rather disbelieve that for as long as he could, and Techno would only work himself up if Phil didn't try and put both of them at ease, so Techno nods.

It's still concerning, to say the absolute least.

The ride back is silent. The atmosphere when they get inside the house is bleak. It's still early, so neither Tommy nor Wilbur present themselves to brighten the mood. Techno raises his head from the rapidly-cooling cup of tea Phil had made on a whim, in an attempt to distract the both of them, and says, "You find anythin' in those books last night about...?" He trails off.

"Uhm.." Phil begins, with a rising inflection, in the way he does when he's trying to think of something reassuring to say. It doesn't work. Techno sees right through it immediately, and gives a bitter-sounding chuckle. "Awesome. We're screwed."

"That isn't true," Phil cuts in immediately, parental instinct overriding his painful awareness of the fact it could well be true. "I'm sure there has to be  _ something _ out there. I'll find a way to fix it." "And if there isn't?" Techno huffs, almost cruelly. "What if we're just destined to fall into an ever-expandin' hole?"

It's... definitely a bleak thought. One that Phil has to take a lot of time to consider an answer to. "We all have three lives left," he hums, eyes dropping to his cup of tea. It's a well-crafted lie. One that Techno doesn't bother to combat, as he sighs out, "I would rather not lose my first life to the  _ void, _ Phil. And I'm sure Tommy and Wilbur would feel the same way."

Phil tuts. "I didn't say that was the definite end to the situation. There may well be a way to either reverse this, or jump ship without dying." He  _ hates _ himself for the way he handles the conversation, but jumping through loopholes is always,  _ always _ his last resort. Playing mind games with his kids is something Phil despises, even when it's necessary, even when it's the only thing he can think to do. Even when it works, and Techno's eyes just fall back down to the hot drink in his hands, deadpan.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, until his other two boys wake up. Until Phil has to step back into the role of a father, rather than a man way out of his league, and far too exhausted and old to be dealing with such new and real threats. He puts on a smile without fail. Tells Tommy that Techno stayed up a bit late last night, so they'll have to spar instead for the morning. Lets the sound of Will's guitar put his mind at ease, and throws together something simple for dinner.

"If I could've made better, I would," Phil begins as he sets the plates down on the table. "But we're running low on food, so beans on toast it is."

Techno stares down at his plate like it's personally offended him. But Wilbur seems more than happy to sit in relative content and eat quietly, and Tommy pipes up from across the table, "Can I come with tomorrow?"

Phil pauses. "Come where?" He feels like he suddenly has to be very, very still, as if Tommy is some kind of enderman, and if he moves even the slightest bit, he'll accidentally make eye contact and set off a domino effect of disaster.  "Into town," Tommy answers breezily, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Phil's brain lags, tries desperately to catch up with his youngest's reasoning, and remembers what he'd said only moments prior. The sigh of relief shared between Techno and Phil goes unsaid, as the oldest of them answers, "Yes, you can, Tommy."

Tommy grins, Wilbur starts talking to him, and Phil tunes out of the conversation entirely. His mind wanders elsewhere, restless and worried, wondering if he can really afford to shield his kids from something so important. Something that could threaten both of them, something that concerns _all_ of them, as a family unit.

He resists the urge to shrug, physically, as he turns a blind eye to Tommy trying to fling his toast at Wilbur, and focuses on his own plate. It wouldn't hurt to give himself a little time to figure out exactly what's happening first, before he sounds the alarm and sends them all into a blind frenzy. Hell, they don't even know that the problem won't go away on its own just yet. It's not like it's an immediate danger- the world border, as it's been established, is still pretty far out from the house. Things might just work themselves out for once.


End file.
